I'll just toss this in my ever-growing backlog of media oversaturation posts that I'll probably never get around to reading.

Modern technology enables me to track that my unread bookmark count is currently over 5,500 links. Some of them point to the most interesting topics:

Germans discover fifth type of boredom: Apathischelangeweile
And now a word from our sponsors... – Vintage advertising – found in my mother's basement, flea markets and various corners of the Internet
The Lives They Left Behind - Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic

Unfortunately, none of those links work.

That's the joke! They point to old SE, if you didn't notice.

I did; I just didn't realize it was a joke.

With hardware lifetimes growing longer, I suppose the sentiment makes some kind of sense.

The difference between a book and a video game used to be that in 5-6 years a video game would either a) look terrible by modern standards or b) be unplayable on modern hardware.

That goes nicely with my thoughts on "but what if steam goes away in 20 years and you can't access your games?" -- they aren't CDs and 20 years from now me will be pretty unlikely to enjoy garbage-looking games from 2018.

It's difficult to think that Steam will go away before the Apocalypse, but I seem to remember Gabe Newell saying that if Steam shut down, they would make available DRM free versions of software. Of course, that was many years ago.

I only buy games in physical format.

Ohhhhh, you hipsters.

Games on vinyl sound warmer.

both topics addressed in this article apply to me. i have a dozen Steam games i haven't played, and a dozen books i haven't read. some of the books were gifts, but some like "The Iliad" were titles i picked up because i really wanted to read it... someday.

My Steam collection is a bunch of games i played before on PS3 but never finished, or meant to play but didn't (like classic FF games that i bought on my PS3 and never played before it YLOD'd, which i then bought *again* on Steam and haven't played). i also bought a ton of games i last played on a Tandy 386, like X-Wing Vs Tie Fighter (which i haven't played).

this is what having children does to you.

I have a bit of a connection with book publishing. One thing marketing/ bookseller types often say is that for many people book purchases are often motivated by a hope to have time to read the books. Yes they would like to read the book, but the purchase is a token of hope that somehow, sometime, they will find time. It is a hope for a different stage of life/ type of life. It's all a bit sad if you dwell on it.

Since I heard that I now delete bookmarks I haven't read within a couple of weeks. I give away books I have bought but not read within a reasonable time. I borrow from the library more and give it back without guilt if I have not read it before it is due to be returned.

Life is too short to spend it buried under the trinkets of forlorn hopes.

As mechanical contrivance (and this article suggests, too), consumption of media might be more complex than just starting/finishing it:
Starting with the act of decision/acquisition/reading criticism are part of the interaction. I too refrain from reading certain stuff I will probably like – while reading biographies on the authors at the same time.

A friend of mine used to throw away all books that didn't fit into one of his 2 shelves – including his own works which were roughly filling a quarter already.

1087 on steam, but I've slowed down a lot, and haven't really played computer games for a few months. Witcher 3 rather spoiled me for everything else.

Then I played The Path today. What the muddy buggering bug mud fuck mind bug was that the hell about?

Regarding Witcher 3, I fully advise other new players to complete all the DLC and side-quests before completing the main game. Use lower-levelled equipment to keep easier quests challenging. The story has a definite end, so it's cleanest to stop playing when you reach it. imo.

Thank you for the advice, Im currently playing Witcher 2 and am eagerly looking forward to Witcher 3.

Story-oriented Open World games can feel very empty when you've finished the main plot. I remember completing GTA:SA, and suddenly realising that I couldn't hang out with Sweet or Cesar. Wu Zi wasn't to be found in China Town. The Truth no longer existed. Even Catalina and that hilarious asshole Toreno and were all gone. San Andreas suddenly felt very ... lonely.

I tried to avoid that by carefully rationing the main plot in Witcher 3, ignoring the artificial urgency of ambushes or vital rescues for in-game months as I worked through random Question Mark icons on my map. I often used lower-level equipment and I didn't spend most of my upgrade points, because games are no fun when you over-level. I completed the main plot 300 hours after I started, and shut down the game for the last time.

A few weeks later, CD Projekt RED released a short 10th Anniversary video, in which we see a supposed gathering of all the main characters that happens sometime later, and Geralt addresses the player directly. Unfortunately something must have gotten in my eye when I watched it.

Cyberpunk 2077. I'm starting to get the the hype.

It's difficult to think that it can live up to the hype, but if the reviews are good it might well be the first game I pay full price for since ... well, since forever, to support the developer. Everything I've heard about CD Projekt RED indicates that they are rare jewel in a world of micro transactions and horse armour.

Recent hits from the backlog:
Windward

and in honor of this post, I'm starting up "Kathy Rain" -- bought in 2016, no memory of that (definitely bundled) purchase!

Kathy Rain -- pixely mystery clicker. Welp, at least I started it.

Other good ones from looking through the list:
Reknowned Explorers: International Society -- nice turn based exploring
luxuria supurbia -- sort of a sexed-up tempest?
Human Resource Machine -- programming, but a game

I have plenty of books I haven't read, movies I haven't watched, games I haven't played, and even albums I haven't listened to. I don't see any problem with this at all. I'll read, watch, play, and listen to them eventually.

I think we just solved Fermi's Paradox.